Interfere
by 9r7g5h
Summary: Finn really tried hard not to interfere.


**AN** : Remember the 'Little People' episode from a long time ago, and how addicted he was? I swear, that was a jab at fanfic writers and shippers, I swear it was. And I took that and ran with it. Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Adventure Time.

* * *

Occasionally, when Jake was gone for a few days and no one else needed him, Finn would clear off the living room floor, build a little world from books and pillows, and play with the little people.

It was only, he had told himself time and again when he felt the need to justify his actions, because he felt responsible for them. It had just seemed wrong, leaving the mini them to fend for themselves on the hill where he and Jake had first found them, leading to him going back later that night and thanking Glob when the bag was still there. Sure; he might have screwed up a bunch of stuff for them all (one of the many reasons why he _needed_ to keep them. He had fixed things, yes, but what if that was only a temporary patch on much deeper long term damage he would need to repair in the future?), but at least he cared. What would have happened to them if he hadn't gone back? More likely than not, someone who didn't give a mushroom would have done much worse to them than Finn ever could.

Besides, it wasn't like he interfered. No, Finn had more than learned his lesson from his first play through with the little people. Whenever he opened the bag and set them free, his entire purpose was just to watch. Without any interfering. At all.

Well…maybe a little.

But only for the most insignificant things he could think of. Like when he had given a ball to a group of young children who had been bored, or a blanket to a cute couple of gummy creatures who had forgotten their own before going out on a picnic. Or when he got that cat unstuck from the bramble pile it had wandered into.

The most minimum interfering that he could possibly do, just so everyone could be happy.

Except…when it was absolutely obvious that his help was needed.

Mr. Cupcake and Ms. Muffin had been flirting for _months_ , but neither had been brave enough to make the first move. Constantly beating around the bakery, it would have been clear to anyone that they needed someone to step in and help them get started, especially since their dancing around the subject seemed to annoy the other little people too.

So, he did whatever benevolent Glob would do and gave them that little push.

Nothing big, of course; still trying to avoid major interference, all he had done was give them both a single flower and place them so they were facing each other, and they did all the rest. Awkward silences and painful blushes had quickly been replaced with dates by the river side and quick, stolen kisses when near others. A few play times after they got together, they'd even been joined by a cute little cupcake (or muffin; he'd never figured out how to tell the kids apart) that never went far from their sides.

All in all, a piece of interference that he could support. It was minimal, he did it for the right reasons, and no one was hurt because of it.

But other than that, he never interfered.

Ever.

At all.

Except when he did it all the time so he could see what would happen.

It wasn't really the same, though, he would tell himself to rationalize the guilt each time he set things up. He was never… _truly_ interfering, if he was to go by his own definition of the word. Except for the rare and completely harmless situations he would occasionally indulge in, once the bag was open and the characters were out, he never touched them. He let them live their own lives, do their own things without him pushing them into doing one thing or another, and would only just watch.

Only watch, that is, _after_ he had already set up the stage so the little people would fall into positions he wanted them to.

It was…interesting, he'd have to admit if anyone ever found out and asked, how the little people slid into roles that weren't their own if placed into the right setting. Many times he'd watch as Bubblegum removed her crown and became nothing more than a waitress at a little café, hanging out with little Finn and Jake as they ran their own business down the street and tried to figure why it was little Marceline never ate anything other than apples or the strawberries off the top of the cake she had worked so hard to make, but nothing else. Had watched as they all slid into their seats when he made the floor a high school like the ones he saw during their movie nights, ignoring whatever teacher he had assigned to them for the session in favor of school gossip and drama. Watched as they banded together to fight the dust bunny invasion, or even pretended that they had never met, instead all becoming friends for the very first time that day.

But no matter what situation he set them up in, Finn never interfered. If something happened, it was all because of them. Their lives, their choices, and their decisions that led to whatever outcome the events would have.

It was because of PB and Marcy playing a game of tag next to her chem set that caused a zombie uprising that even PB couldn't fix, potion after potion failing until the two of them and a few other, lucky souls had to abandon the world Finn had created for them on the floor for the harsh wilderness under the couch. Luckily for them, a trip back into the bag seemed to cure everything, returning all the little people back to normal within minutes. So, when the group that escaped came back with weapons and more ways to destroy zombies then he could count, they found a wonderful surprise waiting for them.

So, except for extreme situations like that that came from him setting the world up so certain events would happen so he could see their outcomes, he never interfered.

Except when he got into a shipping mood, much like he was today.

With the exception of Mr. Cupcake and Ms. Muffin-because it was _obvious_ that they belonged together, both as little people and big ones-Finn tried to avoid long term shipping. He really, _really_ did try. Like Jake had pointed out, forcing peeps into relationships they weren't down with was wack, and so Finn avoided it. When he could, because sometimes? Sometimes things just needed to happen.

Like when little Jake and Lady had an argument during the high school play Finn had set up. He had created a little room separate from the rest of the little people and put the two of them into it, leaving the supplies they needed to make up for their argument earlier in the day. Or when Hotdog Princess was clearly crushing on the head of her Hotdog Guards, but he was too obsessed with trying to 'protect' her from imagined threats- Finn had just organized a little get together with just friends and family, had put the two of them at the same table alone, and let the magic do its thing.

Or the couple of hundred dozen other times he had helped the little people find love between each other.

He knew it was wrong, he knew he had promised Jake that he would stop, but it was calming, in a way. Watching them fall in love, make little lives together, actually enjoy life when they lived through it. And he didn't do it often, not anymore. Just when life was getting him down and he needed something to cheer himself up. So yes, he interfered, every now and then.

It made him smile when he watched little him and Flame Princess wander through the forest he had made, carefree and holding tinfoil covered hands. It made him laugh when he watched the candy people work their way through multiple relationships, multiple lives, different configurations of life with each day he played. It hurt in the best way he couldn't think to describe as he watched Princess Bubblegum and Marceline make up and curl into each other, something they couldn't seem to bring themselves to do when faced with the opportunity in real life.

And they did this because he interfered. Because he put the little people in the right place at the right times to play out the stories he had set up for them, so they could live the lives they should have been living in the real one.

He didn't interfere, not really. Not often, just when he had to for the happy ending they deserved. Which wasn't really often, not really. Just all the time, whenever they all played together, to make their world a happy one, at least.


End file.
